Newark – At approximately 11:00 P.M. on Wednesday, February 1, 2017 , Newark Police received a fraud complaint from the 200 block of Mia Drive, according to Newark Police Spokesman Lieutenant Fred Nelson.
The 29-year-old woman, a University of Delaware student, reported that she received a phone call from a male claiming that he was from the IRS, said Nelson. The male caller stated that the victim owed unpaid “student taxes” and that she would be arrested and would not receive her diploma if she failed to pay the taxes, according to Nelson.
Nelson said that the caller then directed the victim to purchase gift cards from area stores and to provide him with the account information on the cards. The victim purchased a total of $8,000 in gift cards. She later learned that the funds in the gift cards had been depleted and she was unable to retrieve her funds from the cards, Nelson said.
Anyone with additional information on this incident should contact Detective Morgan Fountain, 302-366-7100 x3133, or [email protected]